Telegraph-transmitter.



No. 758,232. PATENTED APR. 26, 1904.

O. ADAMS-RANDALL. TELEGRAPH TRANSMITTER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-'25) 1902.

H0 MODEL.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

4 PATENTED APR. 26, 1904. 0. ADAMS-RANDALL. TELEGRAPH TRANSMITTER.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 25; 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

- N0 MODEL.

we mums PEYERs ca, PND'YGUTHO- wnsmusrem, a, a

I ters, of which the following is a specification.

W UNITED STATES f'atented April 26, 1904.

PATENT OFFI E.

CHARLES ADAMS-RANDALL, OF NEWYORK, N. Y.

TELEGRAPH-TRANSMITTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent no; 758,232, dated. April 26, 1904.

Application filed Augus a, 1902,

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that. I, CHARL S ADAMS-RAN- at New York,in the county of New Yorkand State of New York, have invented new anduseful Improvements in Telegraph-Transmit- My inventionrelates to telegraph-transmitters, the object of the-same being to provide novel means whereby the dots and dashes representing the diiferent characters in the Morse system of telegraphy may be rapidly, accurately, and reliably produced and transmitted 1 with the least possible labor to the operator.

A further object of the invention is to secure to a greater or less extent theresults of machine telegraphy Without the use of the expensive apparatus or the special paper necessarily used therein. I

Other objects of the invention will hereinafter appear, and the novel features thereof will be set forth in the claims. I In the drawings forming. part of this specification, Figure 1 is aside elevation, partly in section, of a portion of a telegraph-transmitter constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is-a plan view of the same, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing a modified construction, and Fig. 5 is an end view of the construction shown 5 in Fig. 4. a

. That myimproved apparatus may be convenient and rapid, I have preferably divided the well-known Morse characters representing h the alphabet, numerals, punctuation- -marks, and other symbols into three classes and have provided a special keyboard having three rows of lettered keys 1, 2, and 3, these keys being arranged so that all of those in? each row have a uniform movement, while all 1;-

of those in each row have, preferably, a different movement from those in the other rows. That the movement in each case-may be re duced to a minimum in accordance with the power required, I have so constructed the keylevers that the movement of the inner ends thereof is greater than that of the key ends. That there may not be any hesitation or guesswork or time lost between words and para- Sariaillloi120374. (No intdel.)

graphs, I have provided a space-key 4, which extends across the front of the machine and is intended to be depressedonce to mark time between words and twice or more'to mark time between, paragraphs. This is a great convenience and saving in time in transmission, especially if the transmission is rapid and the message is being received or taken down by a .Morse recorder or printing machine. That the apparatus may be easy of operation, positive,and reliable, I have provided for the absolute control of the circuitclosing devices by mechanical. means, so that the operators work is reduced to a minimum and the impulses are automatically transmit.- ted uniformly, certainly, and reliably and at a speed which is dependent wholly upon the ability of. the operator in manipulating the lettered keys.

The keys 1, 2, and 3 are connected to .the

. outer free ends of the key-levers 5, 6, and 7,

respectively, and said levers are themselves mountedzupon rods 8, 9, and 10, which; connect or are supported inthe uprights 11,which are secured to the base 12 of the device and are arranged in parallel relation to each other. The base 12 is preferably made of wood or other non-conducting material. The spacekey 4 is mounted upon therodlO, as clearly shown. As shown in the drawings, said key consists -merely-of a transversely-extending presserbar secured to the outer ends of two levers 4*, which levers are themselves pivoted upon therod 10. Thiskey-is not operatively connected with any of the remaining parts of the apparatus, and its sole function is toenhave beenillustrated in the drawings, one being shown, for each set or row; It is obvious, however, that more will be provided in'a complete instrument, the same being mountedand constructed similar to those above described.

The inner end of the lever, 5;- is. provided with a segmental extension 13, having notches, grooves, or corrugations 14 thereon shaped to conform to the particular number and ar rangement of dots and dashes which go to representthe character indicated by the key connects or is supported in the parallel up-' rights 23, secured to the base 12. The said lever 16 is adapted to be vibrated by the movement of the key-lever 5 so as to move the upper arm thereof back and forth between the contact-screws 19 and 20.

Beyond the extension 1'3 on the key-lever 5 said lever is provided with an arm 23, car-- rying a laterally-projecting pin 24, which cooperates with the inclined or beveled lower end of a pivotally-suspended bar 25, carried by a contact-making lever 26. Said lever 26 is mounted upon a horizontally-arranged rod 27 and has a laterally-extending arm 28 thereon which cooperates witha stop 29 for limit- .ing its movement in one direction. A'spring 3O acts upon the upper end of the lever 26 to normally hold the arm 28 thereon-in engagement with the stop 29 and to hold said lever out of engagement with the contact-spring 31 when in certain positions. Said spring 31 is mounted upon a suitable support 32 and is connected, through the wires 33, 34, and 35, with one pole of the battery 36. The movement of the free end of the pendent bar 25 in one direction is limited by the stop 37.

The key-levers 6 and 7 are similar in construction to the key-lever 5 and cooperate with corresponding parts to those above described. One important difference, however, between the levers 6 and 7 and the lever 5 is that the grooves or corrugations 14 on thelever 6 are arranged for the particular character to be transmitted by the depression of the key 2, and the grooves or corrugations 14 on the segmental extension of the lever 7 are designed for the transmission of the particular dots and dashes which indicate, according to the Morse system, the character represented by the key 3. The rocking lever 16 is similar in con struction to the lever 16. It is, however, vibrated by the rocking movement of the lever 6 instead of by the lever 55. The upper arm of the lever 16 moves between the contactscrews 19 and 20, and thereby serves to make and break the circuit between the battery and the line in accordance with the irregularities of the surface 14 of the segmental extension of the lever 6.

The rocking lever 16 carries the pin or roller 17 which is adapted to be engaged by the grooved or corrugated edge 14 of the extension13 of the lever 7. The free arm of the lever 16 vibrates between the contactscrews 19 and 20 mounted in a block 21 of insulating material secured to the base 12. A Wire 38 connects the contract-screw 20 with the contact-screw 20, and a wire 39 connects ing pin 24 thereon.

lever 26".

the contact-screw 2O with the contact-screw 20 The line-wire 40 leads off from the contact-screw 20 and the pole of the battery 36 opposite that from which the Wire 35 leads is grounded, as at G, when the battery is used as a line-battery.

At a point between its fulcrum 10 and the extension 13 the lever 7 is provided with a depending arm 41, having a laterally-extend- The said pin cooperates with the lower tapering end of the pendent bar 25*, pivoted at its upper end to a contact The said lever 26 is similar in all respects to the lever 26 above described, the same being fulcrumed upon the rod or shaft 27 b and having'a laterally-projecting arm 28 thereon which is adapted to engage a stop 29 for limiting the movement of said lever in one direction. The said lever 26 is normally maintained in the position shown in the drawingsthat is, with the arm 28 in contact with the stop 29 and in this form with the upper end of said lever out of engagement with the contact-spring 31, said lever being held out of contact with the contact-spring 31 by the spring 30 connected to said lever and to a fixed part. The swinging movement of the free end of the bar 25 to the right is limited by a stop or pin 37, which is secured to the lever 26 Similar circuit-closing connections between the contact-lever 26 and the contact-spring 31 are provided to be operated by the keylever 6.

Constructed as -above described, the operation of my device is as follows: Say, for example, the key 3 is depressed for the purpose of transmitting, for example, the letter A, which said key may represent. When the outer end of the lever 7 is depressed by the operation of the key 3, the inner end of said lever is raised. The pin or roller 17 b is then engaged by the grooved or corrugated edge 14" of the extension 13 and the lever 16 is vibrated, causing the free end thereof to move back and forth between the contact-screws 19 and 20*, making and breaking the circuit in accordance with the irregularities in the grooves or corrugations 14 which correspond with the dots and dashes representing the letter A. By this action of the key-lever 7 it will be seen that the proper electric impulses will be transmitted upon the line-wire 40 to indicate the letter A. The key-levers 5, 6, and 7 are .returned to their normal positions through the action of the springs 41, 41, and

i or corrugations 14 of the extension 13 to be again brought into engagement with the pin or roller 17, with the result that the dots and dashes for indicating the letter "A would be transmitted upon the line in a reverse direction. To avoid this, Ihave provided the means above described for breaking the circuit as soon as any one of the key-levers reaches its lower most position, so that when itreturns' to its normal position 'it will be'impossible to transmit any signals by the particular key inques tion upon the line, as the circuit from the battery 36 will be broken between the contactlever 26 and the contact-spring 31 of keylever 7 and similarly between the corresponding parts belonging toea'chof the other keylevers as they are used and return to normal position. When the key 3, however, is first depressed, the pin 2 1 on the lever 7 is brought into engagement with the lower inclined or beveled edge of the bar with the result that said bar is moved to the right until it strikes against the stop 37*. The continued upward-movement of the lever 7 causes a rocking movement to the right of the contact-lever 26 against the action of the spring the said lever moving upon the rod or shaft 27. Contact then takes place and is maintained during the upward movement of the lever 7 between the lever 26 and the contact-spring 31 The flow of current from the battery 36 is then over the following path: wire 35, contactspring 31", contact-lever 26", uprights 23, lever 16", and contact-screw 20 to line 40. Of course after this circuit is closedat the points 26 and 31 and the lever 16 is vibrated by the action of the corrugated surface 14 of the lever Tthere'on the free arm of the lever 16? will be caused to move toward and away from the contact-screw 20 making and breaking the circuit to line in accordance with the particular letter or series of letters to be transmitted. When the pin 24? on the lever reaches its extreme uppermost positionbeyond the upper end of the bar 25*, the contact-lever 26 is released and the spring 3O actsto return the CODEZLOC-lGVBIQG to its normal position, separating the same from the contact-spring31 and breaking the circuit at the latter point, which remains broken during thereturn movement of. the lever 7 to its normal position. The lever 7 now returns to its normal position without transmitting any signal due to the movement of the grooves or corrugations 14* on the extension 13 over the pin or roller 17 lnstead of connecting the contact-screw 20 directly with the line a relay maybe inter posed between the circuit from the battery 36 and the line. Any suitable form of relay may be employed. l'have fshown, however, a relay consisting of a base 44, having a magnet 45, secured to an upwardly-extending arni 46 thereon. The magnet is included in and 52. The armature-lever 53, movable between the contactscrews 51 and 52, is acted upon by the magnet 45 and the spring 54: and has connected to it the line-wire 55; The contact-screws 51 and 52 are both insulated from the supports in which they are mounted and'from each other, and the screw 51 is connected, through the wire 56, with onepole of the battery 57 and theother screw, 52, to the other po'le of the battery, which is grounded at the center. i

By grounding the battery 57, as shown, it will be seen that the circuit is normally closed from one pole of said battery throughthecontact-screw 52 and the lever 53 to the line-wire I 55. As the lever 53 is vibrated,h0wever, it will be alternatively moved into and out of conthe polarity of the current to line will be in termittently changed. This is accomplished by reason of the fact that when the lever 53 is in engagement with the contact-screw 51 the current-flow will be from theopposite pole of the battery 57, through the wire 56,

contact-screw wire 55.' Instead of the means above describedfor 51, and lever 53 to the lineclosing the circuit at anauxiliary point as the key is depressed and opening the same before the same starts upon its return movement the construction shown in Figs. 4 and 'tact with the screw 51, with the result ,that- 5 of the drawings may be employed.

shown therein, the key-lever 7, which may be considered as any one of the key-levers of the transmitting mechanism, hasa segmental extension 58 on its free end, provided with a laterally-extending pin 59., Theex tension 58 has blocks 60, of insulating ma-.

terial, set in. the same dividing the spaces between them up in accordance with the par. ticular character to be transmitted, forminga circuit-breaker.

tery 62, the other pole thereof being grounded.

The lever T is connected 7. through the wire 61 with one pole of the bats Cooperating with the segmental extension 58 of the lever 7 is a contact-spring 63, which may be normally out of contact with 58 or may be in contact with the projection 58' on the upper end of 58, the spring 63 being secured to a block 64, of insulating material, and

connected with the line-wire 65. The block 64, of insulating material, is secured to the lower end of a rocking-lever 66, fulcrumed upon a rod or shaft 67 and having pivotedat its upper end at 68 a pendent bar 69, having a tapered or beveled lower end 70. Thelever 66 is acted upon by a spring 71 to maintain the same in its normal position in engagement with the stop 72, and a stop '73 is provided.

on said lever for limiting the outward movement of the lower free end of the bar 69. The operation of this form of my invention is as follows: When the key to which the lever 7 is connected is depressed, the inner end of said lever is elevated and the segmental extension or circuit-breaker 58 is moved in engagement with the contact-spring 63, causing the circuit from the battery 62 to the line-wire 65 to be alternately made and broken, according to the number, length, and arrangement of the in sulating-blocks 60, which are set into themetallic segmental extension 58 of said lever. The contact-spring 63 is preferably normally held by the spring 71 out of the path of movement of the segmental extension or circuitbreaker 58 of the lever 7 1 When said lever is raised,however, the pin 59 thereon is brought into engagement with the tapered lower end 70 of the bar 69, with the result that the said bar is moved to the right against the stop 7 3. The continued upward movement of the lever 7 causes the pin 59 to ride along the edge of the bar 69. moving the lever 66 on its pivot 67, so that the contact-spring 63 is brought within the path of movement of the segmental extension or circuit-breaker 58. During the upward movement of the lever 7 therefore, the circuit from the battery 62 to the line 65 will be alternately made and broken in accordance with the particular arrangement of dots and dashes for the letter represented by the particular lever depressed. When the lever 7 reaches its extreme uppermost position and the pin 59 thereon passes beyond the bar 69, the spring 71 acts to return the lever 66 to its normal position in engagement with the stop 72, disconnecting the parts 63 and 58 during the return movement of the lever 7 a to its normal positionthat is to say, when the lever 66 is in engagement with the stop 7 2 the contact-spring 63 is outside the path of movement of the segmental extension or circuit-breaker 58. Consequently when the lever 7 returns to its normal position there will be no transmission of signals in a reversedirection upon the line. This device can be used in a local circuit in combination with a relay, as before described.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that according to my invention the timecontacts are always uniform, certain, reliable, and rapid, as all impulses forming a letter, character, symbol, or signal are mechanically transmitted by one quick movement'of the key by the operator. The closing of the circuit at the auxiliary circuit-closer for use for transmission and the breaking of the circuit as soon as the key is depressed, so that the key may freely return without any possibility of a repetition of or interference with the linesignals, are both performed mechanically, automatically, quickly, certainly, and positively. Consequently the operator has only to depress the lettered key-levers in their turn. This may be done in rapid succession without waiting for those previously depressed to return, as the complete depression of the key sends the signals or impulses and automatically breaks the circuit for that key. The depression of other'keys may thus follow rapidly in succession without any possible mechanical or electrical interference. The speed of Morse or other code transmission is thereby greatly increased. The speed is limited only by the ability of the operator in manipulating the keyboard and is at least four times as fast as the fastest transmission by the ordinary Morse key operated manually.

While the invention has been described as adapted to the Morse system of transmission, the same is also adapted to be used for the transmission of Continental and other code signals.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a telegraph-transmitter the combination of independent operative key-levers and independent circuit-closers for each key-lever, an electric circuit, a source of electric energy and suitable connections thereto, in dependent means for automatically closing the circuit upon the initial movement of either key-lever preparatory to sending the code impulses or currents corresponding to the lever used, means for transmitting the code signals or currents during the depression of the lever, and independent means for automatically breaking the circuit when the signals are sent and for keeping the independent circuit-closer of each particular lever open during the return of the key-lever to a normal position, substantially as described.

2. In a telegraph-transmitter, a vibrating lever, electric contacts between which said lever moves, an electric circuit including one of said contacts and said lever, a key-lever for automatically actuating said vibrating lever between said contacts to impress or transmit upon or over said circuit impulses representing the character indicated by said key-lever, independent means actuated by the depression of said key-lever for automatically closing said circuit at a second or auxiliary point prior to the transmission of the electric currents or impulses over the circuit, and an independent device for automatically breaking said circuit when said key-lever has been depressed, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a telegraph-transmitter, a vibrating lever, electric contacts between which said lever moves, an electric circuit including one of said contacts and said lever, a key-lever for automatically actuating said vibrating lever between said contacts to impress upon said circuit impulses representing the character indicated by said key-lever, separate and in dependent means controlled by the movement of said key-lever for automatically closing said circuit at a second or auxiliary point prior to the transmission of the electric currents or impulses over the circuit, means independent of the key-levers for automatically breaking said circuit when said key-lever has been depressed, and a relay in said circuit, as and for the purpose set forth.

4:. In a telegraph-transmitter, a vibrating lever, electric contacts between which said lever moves, an electric circuit including one of said contacts and said lever, a key-lever having a segmental portion thereon provided with grooves or corrugations adapted to engage said vibrating lever for automatically actuating the same between said contacts to alternately make and break said circuit and to impress thereon or transmit thereover impulses representing the character indicated by said key-lever, and means acting independently of the key-levers for preventing the closing of said circuit during the meturn movement of said key-lever to its normal position, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a telegraph-transmitter, a vibrating lever, electric contacts between which said lever moves, an electric circuit including one of said contacts and said lever, a key-lever having a segmental portion thereon provided with grooves or corrugations adapted to engage said vibrating lever for automatically actuating the same between said contacts to alternately make and break said circuit and to impress thereon impulses representing the character indicated by said key-lever, independent means controlled by the movement of said key-lever for automatically closing Said circuit at one point prior to the transmission of the electric currents or impulses over the circuit, and means acting independently of the key-lever for automatically breaking said circuit when said key-lever has been depressed'and for maintaining the same open during the return of said key-lever to its normal position, as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a telegraph-transmitter, a vibrating lever, electric contacts between which said lever moves, an electric circuit including one of said contacts and said lever, a key-lever having means thereon for automatically actuating said vibrating lever between said contacts to impress upon said circuit impulses representing the character indicated by said key-lever, a contact-spring and a contactlever, both included in said circuit but normally separated from each other, means actuated by the depression of said key-lever for moving said contact-lever into engagement with said spring, and maintaining such contact during the movement of such key-lever, and independent means for automatically disengaging said contact-lever from said spring when said key-lever reaches the limit of its movement, as and for the purpose set forth.

the movement of said bar in one direction, a

pin on said key-lever adapted, when said keylever; is depressed, to engage said bar and move said contact-lever into engagement with said contact-spring, and a spring acting upon said contact-lever for moving the same out of engagement with said contact-spring when said pin passes above said bar, as and for the purpose set forth.

8. In a telegraphic transmitter for transmitting the electric impulses or currents representing predetermined characters, signals, letters or symbols, means controlled by the movement of a key-lever for automatically closing the circuit, prior and preparatory to the actual transmission of the electric currents to be sent, means for automatically transmitting the said currents by the depression of a keylever, and means acting independently of the keylever for automatically breaking the circuit at each key of the transmitting device independently, directly the said currents or impulses have been transmitted by the depression of the key-lever, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

9. Ina Morse telegraph-transmitter, keylevers representing the Morse characters, said key-levers having segmental portions constructed to form a suitable circuit-breaker and a cam carried thereby, in combination with an independent auxiliary rocking lever, an in- I sulated contact-spring, a swinging pawl and a stop-pin carried by said lever and provided with a retractile spring whereby upon depression of the key-lever the auxiliary lever is antomatically ,moved and the contactspring brought to bear upon the surface of the circuit-breaker during the upward movement of the same to a predetermined position when the lever is released and the contact-spring returned to its normal position out of contact with the circuit-breaker during its return to normal position, substantially as shown and for the purpose specified.

IIO

In testimony whereof I have hereuntoset my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES ADAMS-RANDALL. Witnesses:

AUGUSTINE C. DUMY, C. L. FRITZ. 

